Mika Akino
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, better known as Akino, (born October 24, 1973, in Tokyo, Japan) is a female Japanese ''joshi wrestler'', signed to Oz Academy. Billed from
Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...
, she started late in the sport and didn't debut until the age of 24. Trained by Mariko Yoshida, she proved to have an innate ring presence and excelled at the sport.


Professional wrestling career


Early career

Akino debuted in the newly formed federation Arison (then run by Aja Kong) as Mika Akino. In her first months she floated around and tagged with fellow rookie Ayako Hamada now and again. Her most notable match was for the Queen of Arsion Championship, against her mentor, Yoshida. This match is considered by some to be the quintessential rookie versus veteran match of the 1990s, and both women were praised for their performance. It wasn't long before Akino was repackaged as Akino, and placed in the
stable A stable is a building in which working animals are kept, especially horses or oxen. The building is usually divided into stalls, and may include storage for equipment and feed. Styles There are many different types of stables in use tod ...
called "Cazai", or Girls with Attitude. Fellow members included tag team partner Hamada, Ai Fujita, and Candy Okutsu. The heel stable gain notoriety and popularity within Arison. Hamada and Akino eventually won the Twin Star of Arsion Championship, which set the stage for possibly both women's biggest match in 1999. Wrestling as "HamaKINO", the two champions entered a storyline with popular tag team "LCO" (Las Cachorrus Orientales), made up of Mima Shimoda and Estuko Mita. The story culminated in a bloody brawl that was later considered one of the matches of the year. Held at the Carnival '99 show, the match skyrocketed the popularity of HamaKINO, and cemented the two women as draws for the promotion. The group split up later, and Akino went on to win the Sky High of Arsion Championship from Chaparita ASARI. Kong left ARSION after disputes with Rossy Ogawa, and ''joshi'' legend
Lioness Asuka is a Japanese retired professional wrestler better known by her ring name . She was one half of the Crush Gals professional wrestling tag team, along with Chigusa Nagayo, who are known for their mainstream popularity in the 1980s, and for be ...
took her place. Hamada left not long after, and AKINO stayed. While she never won the Queen of Arsion Championship, she was involved in several spotlight storylines and matches, including tagging with Asuka and competing against Michiko Ohmukai.


Leaving Arison

After Asuka left, wrestler Yumiko Hotta took over and renamed Arison AtoZ. In 2003, Akino parted ways with the promotion, and declared herself a freelancer. Her mentor and friend Yoshida left AtoZ as well, as did wrestler Baby-M (at that time billed as Baby-A). Akino began performing with other promotions, like Jd' and JWP. She also began training in
mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...
(MMA), and competed at the ''LoveImpact'' show, on February 8, 2004. She KO'd her opponent, a middle cup tournament winner, less than a minute into the match. She also competed at the ''SmackGirl'' show, on August 5, 2004, and went all three rounds against her opponent, winning by split decision. During this time Akino wrestled primarily in Jd', JWP, and Gaea.


Forming M's Style

After leaving AtoZ, Akino joined with three other ''joshi'' wrestlers to form a new promotion. Her longtime friend Mariko Yoshida and fellow Arison wrestler Michiko Ohmukai joined her, and rising star Momoe Nakanishi also jumped on board. The name of their promotion, M's Style, stemmed from the fact that all four women's first names started with the letter "M". M's Style held its first show in April 2004. At the time, the promotion was thought to be the future of ''joshi puroresu'', and had been rumored to be working with ''puroresu'' powerhouse
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...
. Nothing came of the partnership, and the promotion suffered another blow. Momoe Nakanishi announced her retirement the same year, with nagging injuries being among the top reasons. Many in the ''joshi'' fan community considered this a death knell for M's Style, and expected the promotion to go under. It has stayed open. Running a show once a month, AKINO and Ohmukai still remain, with Yoshida occasionally wrestling, though she left to open Ibuki to train up the next generation of ''joshi'' wrestlers.


Present

M's Style closed in the Fall of 2006. After the final show, Akino announced she would be taking some time off from wrestling to let a lingering neck injury heal up. While still teaching classes at U-FILE, she has scaled her wrestling appearances back dramatically, appearing in an Oz Academy show in January 2007 and in the Jaguar Yokota show on March 11, 2007. In the meantime, she has taken up golfing and currently travels with a female golfer, Sakura, acting as her caddy while competing in tournaments herself. One of her most notable students, who was also trained by Yoshida, is Ayumi Kurihara, who has tagged with Akino several times and also wrestled in M's Style. Akino has held tag championships with Ranmaru and Tsubasa Kuragaki, and has held many singles titles as both Akino and her heel alter-ego noki-A. Akino returned in mid-2007, working primarily with Oz Academy while freelancing with Pro Wrestling WAVE and performing in special shows held by Fuka. She is currently a member of Aja Kong's Jungle Jack 21 stable along with Hiroyo Matsumoto and
Tomoka Nakagawa is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. After being trained by Taka Michinoku, she started her career in his Kaientai Dojo promotion in September 2004. After leaving Kaientai Dojo in 2007, Nakagawa briefly joined Ibuki, where she underw ...
. On April 24, 2013, Akino defeated Chikayo Nagashima to win the Oz Academy Openweight Championship for the first time. After a record-breaking eighteen-month reign, she lost the title to Tsubasa Kuragaki on October 13, 2014. She regained the title on May 17, 2015, only to lose it to Mio Shirai on June 7. On December 11, 2016, following Dynamite Kansai's retirement, Akino officially signed with Oz Academy, ending her days as a freelancer.


Championships and accomplishments

*
All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling , nicknamed Zenjo (全女: 全 meaning "All", 女 meaning "Woman") was a ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) professional wrestling promotion, promotion established in 1968 by Takashi Matsunaga and his brothers. The group held the ...
** All Pacific Championship ( 1 time) * Arsion ** Sky High of Arsion Championship ( 2 times) ** Twin Star of Arsion Championship ( 1 time) – with Ayako Hamada *
JWP Joshi Puroresu , also known as or simply JWP, was a Japanese ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) professional wrestling promotion, promotion, founded in 1992 as a splinter promotion of Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling. Celebrating its 25th anniversa ...
** JWP Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Tsubasa Kuragaki * Oz Academy ** Oz Academy Openweight Championship ( 2 times) ** Oz Academy Pioneer 3-Way Championship (2 times) ** Oz Academy Tag Team Championship ( 5 times) – with Ayumi Kurihara (1), Kaho Kobayashi (1),
Ran Yu-Yu is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name . Best known as a tag team wrestler, Yu-Yu held the JWP Tag Team Championship a record seven times, the Daily Sports Women's Tag Team Championship three times, the AA ...
(2) and Sonoko Kato (1) ** First Triple Crown Champion ** Best Wizard Award (8 times) *** Best Bout Award (2014) vs. Tsubasa Kuragaki on October 13 *** Best Bout Award (2015) *** Best Bout Award (2017) *** Best Bout Award (2022) *** Best Tag Team Match Award (2012) with Ayumi Kurihara vs. Aja Kong and Sonoko Kato on August 19 *** MVP Award (2013, 2022, 2023)


References


External links


Sky Perfect
AKINO's official website, includes blog. In Japanese

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akino, Mika 1973 births 20th-century female professional wrestlers 20th-century Japanese professional wrestlers 21st-century female professional wrestlers 21st-century Japanese professional wrestlers Japanese female professional wrestlers Living people People from Adachi, Tokyo People from Tokyo Metropolis Professional wrestlers from Tokyo Sportspeople from Tokyo Metropolis Oz Academy Openweight Champions Oz Academy Tag Team Champions Oz Academy Pioneer 3-Way Champions JWP Tag Team Champions All Pacific Champions Sky High of Arsion Champions Twin Star of Arsion Champions